Fighting Cancer with Radiation Treatments
As part of your cancer treatment plan, your doctor may recommend radiation treatment.
You will meet with a radiation oncologist, a doctor specially trained to deliver radiation treatments. They will work with you and your cancer care team to develop a treatment plan.
We’re here to support you, answer your questions and make sure you get the best cancer care from your first appointment onward.
What is Radiation Therapy?
Radiation therapy targets cancerous tumors, killing or damaging them so they can’t grow, multiply or spread. Your radiation oncology team at Sanford Health offers the latest technologies to prescribe and deliver this type of treatment.
Learn about how radiation treatment helps to fight cancer, including:
- Why to get radiation
- What to expect from radiation
- Common side effects of radiation
- Your radiation therapy team
Radiation Treatments
Your cancer care team will discuss your options and recommend a radiation treatment plan that is right for you and your needs. Learn more about different types of radiation therapy:
Radiosurgery. Doctors can pinpoint and deliver a one-time high dose of radiation to the tumor’s exact location through stereotactic radiosurgery. This can be a good option for patients with tumors deep inside the body or brain and is often used when surgery is not an option.
Brachytherapy. This radiation treatment is delivered directly into your body, placed as close to the cancer as possible through an implant filled with radioactive materials.
External beam therapy. Delivered by a linear accelerator, this form of radiation uses a beam of radiation to target the tumor site. Using real-time advanced imaging technology, the Varian radiotherapy system uses a beam of radiation to target tumors, even in sensitive areas, and deliver treatment with accuracy and speed.
The linear accelerator monitors motion in real time and corrects any patient movement to protect healthy tissue. It delivers treatment faster, both by the rate of dose delivery and its ability to treat multiple targets simultaneously. Because of this, patients are more comfortable during treatments and heal in fewer sessions.
Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT). This technology allows delivery of radiation directly to the site during surgery. We offer IORT in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Find a Location
Find a Doctor
Learn More
Deep Inspiration Breath Hold
There’s a new technique for patients getting radiation treatment to their chest or breast. Deep inspiration breath holds show promise in protecting the heart of patients during these procedures. Without this technique, the heart could get hit with a significant dose of radiation during treatment. Radiation can lead to future cardiac problems. By holding your breath using the deep breath technique, you’ll keep your chest still during the procedure, which minimizes the amount of radiation that hits your heart. This method is most beneficial for women with cancer in the left breast, but could also help patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, lung cancer and pancreatic cancer.
Sanford Health News
-
background-image
Do you feel like you’re allergic to the holidays?
Environment, fragrance sensitivity can be factors in seasonal allergy symptoms -
background-image
Home care team in Minnesota is ‘part of our family’
Good Samaritan Society’s in-home therapy helps keep people out of the hospital
Classes & Events
-
background-image
Birthing with Confidence
Sat 12/02/23 9:30 AM - Sat 12/02/23 4:00 PM
Sanford South University -
background-image
Medicare Seminars
Sat 12/02/23 1:30 PM - Sat 12/02/23 2:30 PM